Zeke Kirschenbaum
Personality Scattered, absentminded, and crass, Zeke gives off a very prickly first impression. If you get past that, he can be friendly bordering on excess, or openly hostile depending on how he perceives you; there is very little in-between in Zeke's relationships. Zeke has next to no mental filter and won't hesitate to voice his grievances, usually in as condescending or sarcastic a way as he can manage. In addition to his borderline appalling lack of social graces, he is very impulsive and prone to mood swings. He struggles to maintain his grasp over his lycanthropy, often resulting in long spells of depression offset with periods of gleaming self-denial. Background While he was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Zeke was raised in Missoula, Montana. His family relocated when he was five because of his father's career, but the family never quite settled after the move. Things eventually broke down three years later, shortly after Zeke's 8th birthday when his mother disappeared. Official reports say that Mrs. Kirschenbaum went missing while hiking alone outside of Missoula, but local scuttlebutt mentioned the possibility of infidelity and eloping. Mr. Kirschenbaum (senior) never quite got over the disappearance, and Zeke and his siblings grew up very quickly in the household of a drunken, bitter man. While his much older sister Mary forwent college to support the family with several jobs, Zeke was too young for employment. Frustrated, he took to stealing and got into trouble repeatedly, becoming more and more of a burden to his sister. After years of trying to stay out of the way and out of trouble, the opportunity came to skip town after high school and Zeke jumped on it immediately, following his then-girlfriend Emma Pomerleau east to a suburb of Chicago, where she was attending college. Chicago Technically, Ezekiel Kirschenbaum as the world knew him never survived the trip. The details are hazy surrounding the disappearance, though official reports read that Zeke lost control of his car while driving through rural areas in Wisconsin and crashed late at night, vanishing in the woods, where no body was ever recovered. Zeke found help at a cabin near where he crashed, where he was given medical attention by a group of well-meaning, though sloppy werewolves camping out for the weekend while trying to find new and exciting ways to get themselves high. They used an unsterilized needle from their stash to kill Zeke’s pain and calm him down, infecting him in the process. Weeks later, unbeknownst to his family and friends, Zeke emerged from the woods alive, though having undergone his first transformation while in a drug-induced stupor. The physical transformations left Zeke's human state near-unrecognizable, and when he appeared in Chicago claiming to be a man presumed-dead, he was identified as a suspect in the disappearance and a warrant for his arrest was announced. Frightened and confused, he went into hiding, finding work as a courier for some of the city's shadier enterprises in exchange for shelter from the law. The Charleston Institute for Abnormal Psychology When he was finally apprehended, he was committed to a mental hospital, where he underwent treatment for delusional psychosis. It became apparent to his doctor, however, that the "hallucinations" of physical transformations were very certainly real, whether or not the identity confusion was too. Fearing for the wellbeing of his patient should his secret become public knowledge, the doctor kept things under wraps. He’d hoped a combination of constant anti-psychotics and convincing Zeke the transformations were all in his head would trigger a mind-over-matter response and cure his condition, a treatment he regretted upon Zeke's escape from the hospital when the wolf finally took control. The Wandering House of Wonders Since his escape, Zeke has been wandering. His stay at the hospital left him confused as to what was real and what was not. Without the constant stream of anti-psychotics, his head was mostly clear for the first time in years, leaving him to parse things out on his own. The only problem was, where to start? Zeke joined a traveling sideshow to earn himself money, performing as "the amazing wolf-man of Missoula county." The ringleader there was privy to Zeke’s condition, and helped him get his head screwed on straight, claiming to have met plenty of werewolves before, which gave him enough perspective to help Zeke figure out what he was. Really, it was a load of bull he was feeding Zeke to keep him stable enough to perform, as “The Amazing Wolfman” was quickly becoming the circus’s favored attraction. It didn’t matter though, as Zeke was happy finally having a place where he could be accepted for being a freak, even if he made his living being gawked and laughed at by tourists. Arrival in Chambury After arriving in Chambury, something went off in the back of his mind and his wolf went haywire. Zeke barely had a grasp on controlling his transformations, but the wolf went into autopilot and drove him away from the circus’s convoy and into the Canadian countryside. When Zeke finally came-to, he found himself on the doorstep of a house party in Ulfhednar territory, surrounded for the first time ever with his own kind. He was welcomed as a guest by one Tanner Hunt, and over the course of the night, Zeke finally began to relax for the first time, feeling like he didn't have to keep his guard up anymore. He ended up cutting a little too loose that night. Blackout-drunk and bottomlessly-hungry, Zeke's wolf took control again and led him away from the party. Past that, he remembers nothing until he woke up in the Happy Trails Motel the next morning, suffering from the hangover of the century and a gutache brought on from a werewolf-sized meal being held in a suddenly human-sized stomach. He still doesn't know what he at the night before, but it came up bloody. The next day, Zeke was arrested by three werewolf hunters belonging to the Cinocephali clan and taken into custody, where he was held for three days pending the investigation of an attack where a boy was murdered and his sister bitten. A show trial was held in an abandoned mining facility on the edge of town, where the Cino wished to make an example of their prisoner for the other clans to see, but the powers that be had other plans. Thoroughly believing in Zeke's innocence, the Versipellis clan sponsored a plot to fake Zeke's death. Fortunately for Zeke, he managed to bumble his way into the arms of the Versipellis after the trial, courtesy of Vasily Polykov, a Versi enforcer. With the whole town on edge, and Zeke feeling very much like he's the epicenter of it all, he's tried to find himself quiet work with the Versi, doing his best to fit in and help out by managing a rehabilitation center for wolves more troubled than he is, though he's beginning to wonder if he was thrown into it just to keep him out of the way while tensions ignite. Random Facts -While he lived in Chicago, Zeke took up boxing as a means of defending himself in the competitive back market scene he found himself immersed in. Despite his wiry frame, he can swing a formidable haymaker. -As a human, he appears to be healthily-built enough, but Zeke suffers from chronic malnutrition. Since his first transformation, he’s lived through varying states of homelessness and money comes in fits and starts. An unstable lifestyle combined with a werewolf’s heightened metabolism, and periods of feast or famine resulting in rapid weight loss and gain has put a heavy strain on his body. His condition becomes excessively apparent when he transforms, and all his condensed mass redistributes, giving him a drawn-out, starved look. -Zeke loves to cook, which is a shame because he doesn’t come into contact with quality foodstuff nearly as often as he’d like to. When he can get his hands on a proper kitchen, however, he will cook you the best damn meal you have ever had in your entire life. -Despite his harsh, gravely speaking voice, Zeke has the singing voice of a goddamn songbird. He was in choir in high school and several bands throughout his young adult life and took continuous vocal lessons right up until his disappearance at the age of 20. Five years of being a werewolf later, and he'd gotten a bit rusty, but can still be heard crooning from all the way down the block whenever he thinks no one is around to hear him. -Zeke has hemophobia (phobia of blood). In truth, a little bit of blood here or there doesn't phase him much; you won't see him pass out at a paper cut. It's when we get into larger quantities that things get bad. A larger wound will make his skin crawl, and a bag of blood like you'd see at a hospital or blood drive will send him up the wall. If lucky, he'll faint at the sight, but if not, it makes him nauseous and agitated, which usually results in an unwanted transformation, which in turn results in more blood getting all over him and the vicious cycle goes on and on. He tries his damnedest to avoid it, but accidents happen, and so in turn do uninvited transformations and wonton gorefests. -Zeke is hooked on cigarettes. He used to smoke before he was turned, and now he’s still got the mental side of the addiction, despite the fact that his lycanthropy has rendered the chemical side pretty much moot (heightened tolerance to foreign substances and all that). As a result of this, he needs to smoke more than twice as much as he used to to even get a buzz. The same goes for coffee, which he loves, but needs a ton of to get any sort of pick-up from it. -Dental hygiene (amongst most hygiene, as a matter of fact) is a big problem for Zeke. The taste of mint is absolutely repulsive to him and he can’t bring himself to use toothpaste. Stack that with his smoking habit and coffee obsession, and you’ve got one hella yellow grin. Don’t let him breathe directly on you. -It’s unknown if it is because of his malnourishment, or a skin condition, but Zeke’s transformations are uncharacteristically gory. His body grows too fast for his skin to keep up, causing his body to rupture all over, leaving his muscle tissue exposed while his healing factor struggles to keep up. Transforming is painful at the best of times for most werewolves, but it’s a long, drawn-out nightmare for Zeke. Abilities Human: Arms 1 - Savvy 2 - Awareness - Willful 2 - First Aid 1 Were: At-will Shifting 1 - Regeneration 1 Spirit: Astral Password 1 Clan Abilities: Unlikely Connections 1 - Secrets Given 2 Descriptions For Alternate Forms Form: Spirit Form Eye color: Same as usual Height: Would be roughly 8", but hovers slightly below what would be proportional standing height, as he has no legs to speak of. Build: Mostly missing. Going from the top-down, he appears to be a normal werewolf at first, except for the pale blue glow that seems to be emanating from within him. His eyes are glowing and seem to be weeping some sort of scant fog that floats upwards. Going down his body, he appears to be dissolving, with his fur disappearing at chest-level, then his skin at stomach level, then his muscle past his waist, and finally his bones fade to nothing at his hips, leaving just his torso floating in mid air. The same blue glow that can be seen coming from his mouth and ears is plainly shining from the hole where his stomach should be, as well as from the gaping hole in his chest. Fur/scale color/pattern: What's left of it is black. Character Use I really don’t mind it if you want to use Zeke for group challenges (in fact, I'd love it), just clear any ideas with me before you do them. Character Relationships Clan Relationships: * Versipellis - Allied * Ulfhednar - Liked * Lycaon - Neutral * Cinocephali - Vilified Personal Relationships: * Sometimes seen in the company of Vasily Polykov and Pavel Sergeyev. * Works for Delphine Moore, a high-ranking Versi member. * Allegedly stalking Kara Mackinaw, though he insists they just like a lot of the same bars. * Appears to be on friendly terms with Abel Hargreaves in spite of his clan affiliations. RP Logs update these later when I'm not cripplingly tired Category:Characters Category:PCs Category:Versipelis Category:Versipellis